Monthly Archives: September 2014

Sometimes when you see a vector image, it’s difficult to figure out how the artist created the intricate shadows, highlights, and textures. Try to determine how the details were achieved in the illustrations below:

Now let’s break down the frosting on the cupcake.

I started with an outline of the shape of the frosting in a mid-tone:

Then I added a layer with several highlight shapes:

Followed by a layer with several shadow shapes:

Here is the frosting with 4 layers representing four shades of shadows and highlights:

The cupcake wrapper was created the same way:

By the end of today’s class, you should create a new blog post with the following:

a PDF of your progress

a paragraph describing what parts of your poster you are happy with, and what parts of your poster you would like help or feedback to improve

Why do we need to either sketch our own designs to trace, or combine several unique images and words?
Why can’t we just trace an image we found online?
What is the difference between using imagery in class and in a commercial portfolio?

Today we will:
– discuss copyright and fair use
– work on our posters

By the end of today’s class, you should create a new blog post with the following:
– a PDF of your progress
– any images you have used in your poster
– a paragraph describing how any images you have used fit under fair use

Section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law considers the following four factors when determining fair use:

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

The nature of the copyrighted work

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

There are several techniques we can use to create visually appealing text in Adobe Illustrator.

1. Converting text into outlines (so each letter becomes a separate shape with points), and altering the points to create your own custom letter forms:

2. Tracing over hand drawn text with the pen tool (note how the fill color is black and the stroke color is white):

3. Drawing a new path with the pen tool, selecting the “type on a path tool,” and typing a word or phrase along the path you just created:

Today we will:

learn a variety of different ways we can create visually appealing text in Adobe lllustrator

practice using these techniques

post our practice files to our blog, and analyze which techniques will be most useful in the creation of our vintage poster

By the end of today’s class, you will create a new blog post with the following:

a PDF in which you traced over each letter in the design with the pen tool

a PDF in which you typed a word in Illustrator, converted the text to outlines, broke apart the letters, and arranged them creatively (bonus points if you adjusted individual points on the letter to create a unique letter form)

a PDF in which you a drew new path with the pen tool, selected the “type on a path tool,” and typed a word or phrase along the path you just created

a paragraph describing which, if any, of these techniques you plan to use in your final poster design

Today we will create a vector illustration of a raster image. In short, we will use the pen tool in Illustrator to trace over part of a photograph.

For example, we can turn a photograph of chocolate chip cookies into a vector illustration:

After the demonstration, you will:
1. Download a photograph.
2. Create a new file in Adobe Illustrator and place the downloaded photo in that file. (File -> place)
3. Create a new layer. Trace over your first shape. (You may need to decrease the opacity of this layer so you can see what you are tracing.)
4. Bring the opacity back 100% and adjust the color if necessary.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you are happy with your vector illustration.
6. Save your Illustrator file, and then save a version as a .pdf
7. Create a new blog post. In this post, upload your source photo and the .pdf of your vector illustration. Write a brief paragraph describing your image. Include any difficulties you had creating the image, and how you worked through them. Credit the source where you got your photo, so you don’t wind up in trouble like Shepard Fairey:

Today we will practice using the pen tool. After the demonstration, you will:
1. Download the “vectorpractice.zip” file here.
2. Unzip the file.
3. Open the .ai file in Illustrator.
4. Trace over each shape with the pen tool. (They are numbered from the simplest to the most complex.)
5. Save your file as a PDF.
6. Create a new blog post. Answer the following question: “What are some differences between vector and raster art?” and upload the PDF containing the vector images you have traced. Also describe any difficulties you had with the pen tool.